The first three words of the U.S. Constitution are “We the people.” The legislators who make the laws in Washington and Lansing can do so because we the people, by voting, have said they can.

When candidates run for office, they are asking us — the people — to trust them to make responsible decisions — decisions that are good for the people they represent. But when a person says “trust me,” a logical response is “why?” Michigan citizens are entitled to an answer to that question from every candidate who asks for their vote.

Voting is both a privilege and a duty. To do it well, we need good tools. The most important tool is information. We can make good decisions about who to vote for only if we find out what a candidate stands for. And we learn what a candidate stands for when the candidate tells us what he or she thinks about important issues.

Providing good tools is at the heart of the mission of the League of Women Voters: helping to make our democracy work. That is why for decades the League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties has sponsored forums and debates where candidates are asked their views on important issues in a disciplined, respectful environment where each candidate has an equal and adequate opportunity to state his or her views on important issues. LWVBCC takes great care to formulate clear, nonpartisan questions that will enable candidates to provide voters with the information they need to make informed decisions when they go to the polls.

Forums and debates can provide that adequate and nonpartisan information only when all candidates for an office participate. This year, LWVBCC cannot hold forums for candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 6th District, the Michigan Senate from the 21st District, the Michigan House from the 78th District, or the Michigan House from the 79th District because the Republican candidate in each of those races now has rejected the invitation to participate.

Of the five forums that LWVBCC had planned, only one can take place — for the Michigan House from the 59th District. That forum, with Aaron Miller and Dennis B. Smith, is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 for the Mathews Conference Center West on the campus of Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac. For the first time in many election cycles, though, there can be no LWVBCC-sponsored candidate forum in Berrien County because the candidates from one party who are asking us to trust them have declined a good opportunity to tell us why we should.

LWVBCC encourages everyone to attend public forums and debates sponsored by other organizations where the candidates who have chosen not to participate in LWVBCC’s forums will be present.

Another valuable source of information can be found at vote411.org regarding candidates who have provided information in response to requests. In October, LWVBCC will distribute printed voter guides with that information to libraries and government offices, as well.

Marilyn Klawiter

Buchanan